Bowling-alley.



PATENTBD JUNE 30, 1903,

Y4 R um MAD MNM In WzT Hum WITNESSES:

EMIL REISKY, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGN OR TO THE BRUNSWIOK- Patented.J'u'zie 30, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

BALKE-OOLLENDER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

BOWLING-ALLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,444, dated June 30,1903.

Application filed February 4, 1902. Serial Ila. 92,499. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern;

Be it known that I, EMIL REISKY, of Buffalo, county of Erie, State ofNew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bowling-Alleys;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to that part of a bowling-alley which isdenominated the ball return-way,and especially to that style orconstruction of return-way made the subject of Letters Patent No.599,447, to me granted as assignor February 22, 1898, and now almostexclusively used in this country. The novelty in this patentedreturn-way of mine or the generic invention covered by said patent liesin a ball-track which has a descending portion at the vicinity of thepit end of the alley down which the ball rolls rapidly and to a levellower than that of the terminal at the players end, on which the homedballs congregate for reuse, and which also has an ascending portion orupgrade at the vicinity of the players end that merges into the terminaland in rolling up which (to get onto the terminal) the speed of thehomed ball is so materially checked as to prevent any very serious orinjurious smashing up together of the balls on the terminal. This patentreturn-way, though so far superior to all its predecessors as tohavepractically wholly superseded them and although capable of perfection ofoperation under some of the practical conditions to which bowling-alleyreturn-ways have to be used, is not perfect in its operation under allcircumstances. It being understood that if said patented return-wayhaving certain relative heights and proportions between the downgradeand the upgrade will result in a ball of a given size say the largestsize usedjust traveling up the upgrade and landing at a minimum rate ofspeed on the terminal, it must follow that a ball of the smallest sizewill not roll up and onto the terminal, also that in the event ofproportioning the parts so that a ball of the smallest size ever usedwill roll up onto the terminal it will inevitably result that thelargest-sized ball will roll up the upgrade and ontothe terminal at anundesirably great rate of speed or too fast. In other words, while mypatented return-way can be made to operate perfectly for either a givensize of balls or to work with a practical degree of perfection in theuse of, say, three or four of the larger sizes or for three or four ofthe smaller sizes, it cannot be made to work with satisfaction where allthe various sizes of balls are to be homedsay all balls running from theregulation size, eight and six-tenths diameter to three and a halfinchdiameter, inclusive. There is therefore room for improvement on mypatented return way in the direction of rendering it capable of homingballs of all the various sizes from the regulation ball down to thesmallest ball, inclusive, because while in some sections of the countryand in some alleys only games are played requiring the use of one, two,or three of the larger sizes in other places a return-way is requiredthat will home balls of all sizes from the largest to the smallest inthe same desirable manner that my patented device will operate withballs of only three or four sizes. To add to my patented return-way thiscapability of operating equally well with balls of all sizes is theobject of my present invention, which consists in a novel constructionof the upgrade portion and ball-track, such as will be hereinafter fullydescribed, so that a certain number of the smaller sizes of balls-sayfrom three inches diameter to five, inclusive'-will roll on one set ofways or rail-contacting surfaces,the next seriessay from five and ahalfinches to six and a half, inclusiveon another set of ways set widerapart and also extending upwardly to a higher elevation at the terminal,and the next seriessay from balls of seven inches diameter to eight andsixtenths-on another set of still farther separated ways which extend toa higher elevation yet and from the extreme upper ends of which thehomed balls have to make a short drop or sudden descent onto the railsof the terminal proper, as I will now more fully describe and as will befound most particularly pointed out in the claim of this specification.In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification,Figure 1 is a side elevation of a ball return-way made according to mypresent invention, but shown as if the long low-down horizontal portionof the balltrack were removed and the pit end and players end portionsmoved up close together in order to better show those portions withinthe space-limit of a Patent Office drawingsheet. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal central section of the players end portion only of thecontrivance seen at Fig. 1 and drawn on about twice as large a scale.Fig. 3 is a top view, on the same scale as Fig. 2, of the players endportion of the return-way. Fig. 4 is a cross-section at the dotted line4 4, but showing all the parts of the device seen in elevation at Fig. 2and drawn on a much larger scale than either Figs. 1, 2, or 3. Fig. 5 isanother cross-sectional view on the same scale as Fig. 4 and taken atthe dotted line 5 5 of Fig.1. Fig. 6 is another similar view of the lastnamed, but taken at the dotted line 6 6 of Fig. 2.

In the several figures the same part will be found designated always bythe same letter of reference.

A is the usual terminal of the ball returnway properly supported in anearly horizontal position by suitable standards a 0. and the newel-posta at its rear end, toward which post, as usual, the said terminalslightly declines. From the forward end, so to speak, of this terminal Aextends downwardly nearly to the level of the alley-floor the upgrade B,which in the present case is of peculiar construction and different fromthat of my patented return-way, the lower end of this upgrade merginginto the long horizontal balltrack C, (which, as shown at Fig. 1, isalmost wholly broken away to make more room for the drawings,) and saidlow-down horizontal portion 0 of the ball-track merges, as shown at Fig.1, into the lower end of the sweep or downward incline of end portion Dof the return-way, the said sweep having its rearmost end supportedpreferably by a post (1 through the medium of an adjustable supportingmetallic device d, which is adapted to be raised and lowered within itspost-strap d and to be secured and located in any desired position, towhich it may be vertically adjusted by means of a locking-pin d, thismetallic and adjustable device being preferably formed, as seen at Fig.1, with an oblique or flared upper end, on which rests and to which maybe flexibly secured the upper end portion of the said sweep D, andinasmuch as only a limited extent of adjustment may be requisite thesaid part D, it built suificiently light, may be bent or sprung to setits extreme pit end at slightly-dilferentelevations. The object of thisfeature of adjustment in the pit end portion of the return-way l) isabout the same as that of the adjustable ball cage or hopper shown anddescribed in my said patent and cuts and particularly figures in thematter of my present improvement.

The long low-down portion of the returnway 0 is preferably made in theform shown, consisting of a bottom board and two vertical sides or edgestrips, the latter having their inner upper corners rounded to about aquarter-circle, as plainly shown in the drawings, and so that the ballswhile rolling on these rounded upper edges of the troughlike device willcontact at different rollinglines thereon, according to the sizes of theballs.

At a point or locality at which the upgrade B has its lower endconnected with or merged into the long low-down portion of the balltrackandfrom this up to the highermost point of said upgrade this device orportion B of the return-way is constructed on a different plan entirelyfrom the upgrade shown and described in my patent, and this differentand novel construction, which I will presently more fully explain,renders the said upgrade device capable of deliveri-ng'balls of all thedifferent sizes onto the terminal A at a very low rate of speed and atapproximately the same rate of speed and constitutes the novel featureof my present return-way. As this upgrade portion is in the first placeformed or supplied with two parallel rails or ball-tracks b and b (seeFigs. 2, 3, 4, and 5,) which are, as seen, located on the base a of theupgrade and which, extending from the points seen at Figs. 2 and 3, runupwardly on the said upgrade and also continue along on the bottom orsurface of the return-way A and are set such a distance apart asillustrated by the series of circles drawn at Fig. 4 and illustratingdiiferent sizes, balls from three to five inches,inelusive,';in diameterwill roll or travel along on these ways I) and Z) without beingdisturbed by or contacting with at either side any other parts orportions of the upgrade portion of the return-way, although, as mostclearly seen at Fig. 4, there are another set or pair of ball-rails band b which project laterally and inwardly from the vertical sides ofthe main side-track pieces b and b of the upgrade. When, however, ballsranging in size from five and one-half to six and onehalf inches indiameter, inclusive, approach and roll up the upgrade, balls of suchsizes come into contact with these laterally-projecting ways]; and I)(see Figs. 2, 3, and 4) until they reach the uppermost ends of said waysor the points 8 thereof, (see Fig. 2,) which points, it will beobserved, are at a considerably-higher elevation than any points in thetrack-rails b and b from which highermost points 3 said series of ballswill slightly descend or drop onto the bottom or ball-supporting portionof the terminal A. Now it will be seen that this last-named series ofballs having thus to roll up the track-pieces b and b will, by reason,first, of said trackpieces being set farther apart than those on whichthe smaller series of balls travel to the terminal, and, second, byreason of being carried up to a higher elevation, as seen at the I I H iII.

points 3 Fig. 2, be caused to land from these points 3 onto the terminalat a much lower rate of speed than if they were allowed to travel to theterminal on the ways I) and b and, as matter of fact, will land on theterminal at approximately the same rate of speed as the smaller seriesof balls which do travel onto the terminalfrom the ways b and b As willbe observed by reference again now to Fig. 4, all those balls rangingfrom six inches in diameter up to the largest size, inclusive, afterpartially ascending the upgrade B, while rolling along on the upperrounded inner edges of the side pieces a and a of the long low-downportion of the runway, will run onto the lowermost end portions of themore widely-separated Ways b I) (see Figs. 1, 2, and 3) and continuethereacross, thence on these track-pieces b b,which, as clearly shown,are inclined farther upwardly as they approach the extreme rear end ofthe upgrade, and the balls travelingvthereon will roll to a higherelevation than any of the others or up to the points s (see Figs. 1, 2,and 3,) from which they will suddenly descend or drop onto the sidepieces a and a which extend rearwardly in the same vertical plane withthe parts b b and constitute the side pieces of the terminal proper, A.Hence this larger series of balls traveling upwardly and rearwardly totheir landing place on the track-rails b b are not only more widelyseparated than the rails of either of the other two tracks, but also runup to a higher elevation before permitting the landing of the balls ontothe terminal proper at a much lower rate of speed than if they rolled upon either of the other two balltracks and, as matter of fact, will helanded on said terminal at approximately the same rate of speed as thatat which all the other or two series of smaller balls are landed.

Thus by means of this novel constructionembodying a series of balltracks or rails each constituting a track of different width from eitherof the others and each ascending to different points of elevation beforepermitting the balls rolling on it to pass onto the terminal proper I amenabled, as will be clearly understood, to so regulate the speed of theballs ascending the upgrade as to make those of the various sizes ofan-entire set of balls translated from the upgrade onto the terminalproper roll at approximately the same rate of speed, and thus again thegreat desideratum of landing all the balls on the terminal in that typeof return-way to which my present invention relates, so as to avoid allinjurious contacting of the balls, while at the same time balls of thesmallest size can be used with the same results or advantages as canthose of the largest size, and vice versa.

Of course it being understood that the pith and essence of my presentinvention rests in the idea of providing a series of ball rails ortracks of various widthsv and on which the balls have to roll tovariouselevations, but landing on the terminal proper, it is notmaterial to my invention whether three or more tracks or sets ofball-rails be employed or whether the precise manner of the carryinginto effect this idea (shown in the drawings) be adopted or whether byequivalent means or mere modification in carrying out my invention thesame efiects be produced by substantially the same means.

I therefore wish it to be distinctly understood that, irrespective ofthe precise detailed constructions shown and described under variousmodifications as to form and proportions in which my invention may becarried into efiect, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

In a ball return-way of the type hereinbefore alluded to, thecombination, with the low-down portion; and with the elevated terminal,of the ball-track, of an upgrade which comprises a series of tracks, orrolling surfaces, to accommodate, respectively, balls of differentsizes, and constructed so thatthe balls of various sizes are delivered,thereby, though from slightly different elevations, onto the saidelevated terminal; and at, approximately, the same rate of speed; all ashereinbefore set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of January,1902.

EMIL REISKY. [1 s.

In presence of- GEO. E. FINOH, HENRY P. IDE.

